Our next U.S. senator should be a voice for Virginia

On Nov. 8, Republicans swept to victory in the Virginia General Assembly. This should send a strong message to President Obama and his backers: Virginians are tired of an overreaching, wasteful government that weighs too heavily on their families and on our nation’s future.

Some Democrats have heard the message loud and clear. Indeed, that’s why a number of them are wisely refusing to say they support Obama’s policies. But not former Gov. Tim Kaine. Instead, Kaine told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper that he’s “not backing off an inch” from his support for Obama. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. As the newspaper noted, “Obama — then a senator from Illinois — campaigned for Kaine’s gubernatorial bid” in 2005. Tim Kaine returned the favor, serving as “a pivotal early supporter of Obama’s 2008 candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

Obama’s campaign recently publicly re-affirmed their ties, saying the two “have a long relationship and they support each other fully.”

“Fully” is right.

As Virginia faced one of its toughest and most fiscally challenging economic times in recent history, Kaine answered Obama’s call to be his hand-picked chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). As chairman, Kaine traveled the country raising money on the president’s behalf, while Virginia families faced increased unemployment and higher education costs, and the commonwealth was challenged with mounting budget shortfalls.

But it wasn’t just Obama’s partisan politics that Kaine put above his responsibilities in Virginia, it was the president’s failed Washington polices.

In 2009, the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper reported that Obama “enlisted” then-Chairman Kaine to help sell Obama’s failed $800 stimulus to the American people. Kaine eagerly agreed, telling anyone who would listen that the stimulus would “jumpstart the economy” and even claimed it would “create or save more than 3 million jobs.” Instead, unemployment remains at 9 percent, and Obama’s spending has pushed our nation’s debt above a mindboggling $15 trillion.

Kaine sold Obamacare “as one of the great achievements of this president,” saying it would “control costs and lower costs for middle class families who are struggling.” Instead, while we wait for the Supreme Court to decide whether the
law and its mandates are even constitutional, health care costs for families and
small business continue to rise.

Virginia doesn’t need its next U.S. senator to be a guaranteed vote for Washington’s failed policies. Instead, we need an independent voice who will speak out against bloated government spending, excessive taxes, stifling regulations and failed policies that prevent our economy from growing again.

In Kaine, we not only find an a close Washington ally and advocate for Obama’s failed policies — we find a politician who has pushed for tax-and-spend policies that look a lot like what we have seen (and Virginia has rejected) from Washington.

Just days after taking office as governor in 2006, Kaine proposed a $3.7 billion
increase in taxes and fees. The General Assembly defeated his effort but, not yet
done, Kaine again pushed for a $1 billion tax increase in 2008. That, too, was rejected. Meanwhile, he drained Virginia’s “rainy day” fund.

On his way out of office Kaine even tried to impose what the Richmond Times-Dispatch described as an “in your face, tax hiking budget” on the commonwealth
that was a “shoddy little trick.” Fortunately, Kaine could not get a single vote for his plan to raise taxes in the midst of a recession. Even the Democratic member of the House of Delegates who carried it for the governor refused to vote for it.

What’s worse was the Kaine jobs record. Virginia lost more than 100,000 private sector jobs during his term as governor — making an already difficult economy that much more painful for thousands of Virginia workers and families.

And he shut down 19 rest stops along Virginia’s Interstate highways, claiming
he needed to raise taxes to keep them open. Bob McDonnell and the General
Assembly didn’t buy that story and, upon taking office as governor, McDonnell
launched an audit that found nearly $900 million that Kaine apparently didn’t even
know existed.

Looking back on Kaine’s record, it’s easy to see why the president and his chairman are so close — both of them are on record as pushing for tax-andspend
policies that expand government and cost jobs. Which leads to an important question: Is a vote for Kaine really a vote for Obama’s failed polices? Based on all
we’ve seen so far from Kaine, it’s clear the answer is yes.

Virginia needs a U.S. senator who will vote the best interest of Virginians, not the interests of the president and his allies in Washington.

That leader is George Allen.

Ruff, a Republican, represents the 15th State Senate District in the General Assembly, which includes parts of Danville and Pittsylvania County.